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we start with a point like the point we
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know from geometry it has no size no
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dimension it's just an imaginary idea
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that indicates a position in a system a
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second point then can be used to
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indicate a different position but it too
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is of indeterminate size to create the
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first dimension all we need is a line
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joining any two points a first
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dimensional object has length only no
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width or depth if we now take our first
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dimensional line and draw a second line
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crossing the first we've entered the
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second dimension the object we're
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representing now has a length and a
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width but no depth to help us with
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imagining the higher dimensions we're
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going to represent our second
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dimensional object is being created
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using a second line which branches off
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from the first now let's imagine a race
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of two-dimensional creatures called
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Flatlanders what would it be like to be
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a flatlander living in their
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2-dimensional world a two-dimensional
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creature would have only length and
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width as if they were the royalty on an
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impossibly flat playing card picture
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this a flatlander couldn't possibly have
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a digestive tract because the pipe from
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their mouth to their bottom would divide
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them into two pieces and a flatlander
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trying to view our 3-dimensional world
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would only be able to perceive shapes in
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two dimensional cross-sections a balloon
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for instance would start as a tiny dot
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become a hollow circle which
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inexplicably grows to a certain size
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then shrinks back to a dot before
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popping out of existence and we
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three-dimensional human beings would
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seem very strange indeed to a flatland
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imagining the third dimension is the
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easiest for us because every moment of
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our lives that's what we're in a
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three-dimensional object has length
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width and height but here's another way
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to describe the third dimension if we
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imagine an ant walking across a
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newspaper which is lying on a table we
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can pretend that the ant is a flatlander
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walking along on a flat two-dimensional
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newspaper world if that paper is now
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folded in the middle we create a way for
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our flatlander and to magically
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disappear from one position in his
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two-dimensional world and be instantly
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transported to another we can imagine
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that we did this by taking a
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two-dimensional object and folding it
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through the dimension above which is our
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third dimension once again it'll be more
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convenient for us as we imagine the
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higher dimensions if we can think of the
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third dimension in this way the third
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dimension is what you've pulled through
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to jump from one point to another in the
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dimension below
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okay
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the first three dimensions can be
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described with these words length width
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and depth what word can we assign to the
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fourth dimension one answer would be
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duration if we think of ourselves as we
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were one minute ago and then imagine
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ourselves as we are at this moment the
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line we could draw from the one minute
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ago version to the right now version
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would be a line in the fourth dimension
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if you were to see your body in the
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fourth dimension you'd be like a long
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undulating snake with your embryonic
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self at one end and your deceased self
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at the other but because we live from
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moment to moment in the third dimension
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we are like our second dimensional
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Flatlanders just like that flatlander
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who could only seek two dimensional
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cross-sections of objects from the
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dimension above we as three-dimensional
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creatures can only see three dimensional
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cross-sections of our fourth dimensional
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self
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one of the most intriguing aspects of
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there being one dimension stacked on
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another is that down here in the
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dimensions below we can be unaware of
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our motion in the dimensions above
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here's a simple example if we make a
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mobius strip take a long strip of paper
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add one twist to it and tape the ends
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together and draw a line down the length
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of it our line will eventually be on
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both sides of the paper before it meets
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back with itself it appears somewhat
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amazingly that the strip has only one
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side so it must be a representation of a
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two-dimensional object and this means
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that a two-dimensional flatlander
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traveling down the line we just drew
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would end up back where they started
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without ever feeling like they had left
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the second dimension in reality they
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would be looping and twisting in the
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third dimension even though to them it
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felt like they were travelling in a
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straight line the fourth dimension time
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feels like a straight line to us moving
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from the past of the future but that
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straight line in the fourth dimension is
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like the mobius strip actually twisting
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and turning in the dimension above so
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the long undulating snake that is us
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will feel like it is moving in a
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straight line in the fourth dimension
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but there will actually be in the fifth
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dimension a multitude of paths that we
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could branch to at any given moment
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those branches will be influenced by our
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own choice chance and the actions of
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others quantum physics tells us that the
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subatomic particles that make up our
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world are collapsed from waves of
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probability simply by the act of
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observation in the picture we are
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drawing for ourselves here we can now
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start to see how each of us are
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collapsing the indeterminate wave of
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probable future is contained in the
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fifth dimension into the fourth
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dimensional line that we are
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experiencing as time
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what if you wanted to go back into your
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own childhood and visit yourself we can
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imagine folding the fourth dimension
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through the fifth jumping back through
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time and space to get there but what if
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you wanted to get to the world where for
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example you would created a great
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invention as a child that by now had
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made you famous and rich we can imagine
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our fourth dimensional cells branching
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out from our current moment into the
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fifth dimension but no matter where you
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go from here the great child inventor
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timeline is not one of the available
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options in your current version of time
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you can't get there from here no matter
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how much choice chance and the actions
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of others become involved there are only
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two ways you can get to that world
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one would be to travel back in time
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somehow trigger the events that caused
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you to come up with your invention then
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travel forward in the fifth dimension to
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see one of the possible new worlds that
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might have resulted but that would be
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taking the long way the shortcut we
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could take would involve us folding the
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fifth dimension through the sixth
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dimension which allows us to instantly
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jump from our current position to a
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different fifth dimensional line
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you